nightcrawler
Avid Member
how much and of what supplemints should i be giving my 6 month old veild?
how much supplements
- Thread starter nightcrawler
- Start date
dodolah
Retired Moderator
I just follow what Kammers told me:
taken from Kammer's care sheet:
Feeding:
Babies: Baby chameleons should be fed 6-7 days a week. From the age of 0-4 months, we feed our offspring liberally. Babies will often eat 8-12 crickets a day when the crickets are 7-14 days old (small 1/8 - 1/4" size). In addition to crickets, one of their favorite foods at this stage of life are flightless fruit flies. These can often be purchased at your local pet shop in small vials with 100 or so flies per culture.
Juveniles: Once the offspring reach 5-12 months of age (juvenile, young adult size), we slow down their food intake and begin to grow them at a slower pace. By now they are on a 3-4 week cricket (1/2 - 3/4" size) and we allow 5-6 crickets per feeding as opposed to the 8-12 they were receiving as small babies. The very real risk of overfeeding during this life stage is a high potential for MBD (metabolic bone disease) by mis-judging the calcium ratios to food intake. It's too difficult to manage proper supplementation when offering large volumes of food. By growing your chameleon slowly and steadily through this period of their life, you are much more likely to provide them with strong, dense bones as opposed to weak, brittle bones from accelerated growth rates the chameleons can't keep up with.
Adult Males: From 13-18 months, we feed our adult males on an "every other day" basis. When we feed crickets, they are given approx. 10 per feeding. At this stage of life, they are no longer experiencing rapid growth and don't require food on a daily basis.
Adult Females: For mature and actively breeding females, we maintain a daily feeding schedule due to the high demands associated with during egg production.
Supplements:
Due to the lack of scientific research, nutritional supplementation for chameleons in captivity is largely a mystery. This is an area of chameleon care that must be determined individually by the chameleon keeper. The needs of each chameleon can vary depending on species and life stages (i.e. growing babies, egg laying females, mature adult males etc.).
The conventional wisdom is that both a vitamin and calcium supplement should be provided to captive chameleons but with widely differing opinions as to "how much" and "how often". Babies and juveniles have higher requirements due to their rapid growth rates while adults and fully mature chameleons require less since they have reached full size.
One of the best ways to ensure chameleons are getting proper nutrition is through the foods they eat. Supplements are in addition to a healthy diet. When we supplement, it is done "lightly and routinely". The prey items should be evenly coated but not "laden down" or smothered with supplements.
We use the following supplement products:
Herptivite (multivitamin with beta-carotene) - Mondays and Thursdays
Rep-Cal Calcium (calcium with and w/out vitamin D3 - depending on indoor or outdoor use) - Tuesdays and Fridays
Miner-All (calcium with essential trace minerals) - Wednesdays and Saturdays
We alternate use between these three products. The babies, juveniles and egg-laying females receive vitamin products twice a week and calcium four days a week. Our adult males are supplemented with vitamins and calcium one time each per week.
nightcrawler
Avid Member
so i should be giving him calcium 3 times a week rotating from with d3 and without d3 and then give him vits once a week? does anyone else second this?
I use phosphorous-free calcium at most feedings for veileds. Most feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous so this helps to make up for it.
I dust with vitamins with a beta carotene source of vitamin A twice a month. There is controversy about whether all chameleons can convert beta carotene to vitamin A so if your chameleon shows signs of vitamin A deficiency you will have to give it a little preformed. Beta carotene will not cause a build up of vitamin A in the system but preformed can. Excess preformed can prevent the D3 from doing its job and lead to MBD.
Since my chameleons rarely get sunlight, I dust the insects twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder. Exposure to UVB allows the chameleon to produce D3. D3 from supplements can also build up in the system...so don't overdo it.
Appropriate basking temperatures allow for proper digestion so they play a part in nutrition too.
I gutload the insects and feed a nutritious diet of greens (dandelion, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, etc.).
Phosphorous, calcium, D3 and vitamin A all play parts in bone health (and in other things too) and they need to be in balance. When balancing them its important to look at what you feed the insects, what you feed the chameleons and what you use for supplements.
There is no definite way to supplement, gutload, etc....what works for one person may not always work for someone else, but doing what I do, my veiled females usually live to be 6+ years old and the males live to be even older.
I dust with vitamins with a beta carotene source of vitamin A twice a month. There is controversy about whether all chameleons can convert beta carotene to vitamin A so if your chameleon shows signs of vitamin A deficiency you will have to give it a little preformed. Beta carotene will not cause a build up of vitamin A in the system but preformed can. Excess preformed can prevent the D3 from doing its job and lead to MBD.
Since my chameleons rarely get sunlight, I dust the insects twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder. Exposure to UVB allows the chameleon to produce D3. D3 from supplements can also build up in the system...so don't overdo it.
Appropriate basking temperatures allow for proper digestion so they play a part in nutrition too.
I gutload the insects and feed a nutritious diet of greens (dandelion, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, etc.).
Phosphorous, calcium, D3 and vitamin A all play parts in bone health (and in other things too) and they need to be in balance. When balancing them its important to look at what you feed the insects, what you feed the chameleons and what you use for supplements.
There is no definite way to supplement, gutload, etc....what works for one person may not always work for someone else, but doing what I do, my veiled females usually live to be 6+ years old and the males live to be even older.
nightcrawler
Avid Member
if i feed him too much of calcium without D3 could that build up in the system and cause problems or wouold he just poop out what he doesnt use? how can you tell if there is vit A deficiency?
nightcrawler asked..."if i feed him too much of calcium without D3 could that build up in the system and cause problems or wouold he just poop out"...a little extra calcium won't be a problem, but if you go too far overboard on it it can cause calcification problems within the body/organs. I can't tell you how much is too much though....sorry.
Here's a good article that you might like to read...
http://www.chameleonnews.com/calcium.html
And another bit you might be interested in....
"Kinyonga- As far as calcium goes, you're right, excess is probably excreted. On the other hand, if not given with the right lighting or other metabolites, ALL of it will pass through the gut without any of it being absorbed...then what was the point of supplementing at all. That's the funny thing about a therapeutic index. Some are wide and some are narrow. The wide ones allow us to eat to excess some items without having a problem. The question is whether we every got into the therapeutic range in the first place."
https://www.chameleonforums.com/uv-light-vs-miner-2423/index2.html
You asked..."what he doesnt use? how can you tell if there is vit A deficiency?"...this site gives you a list of things to look for...but be aware that some of these things can have other causes too...
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=17&cat=1796&articleid=3027
Here's a good article that you might like to read...
http://www.chameleonnews.com/calcium.html
And another bit you might be interested in....
"Kinyonga- As far as calcium goes, you're right, excess is probably excreted. On the other hand, if not given with the right lighting or other metabolites, ALL of it will pass through the gut without any of it being absorbed...then what was the point of supplementing at all. That's the funny thing about a therapeutic index. Some are wide and some are narrow. The wide ones allow us to eat to excess some items without having a problem. The question is whether we every got into the therapeutic range in the first place."
https://www.chameleonforums.com/uv-light-vs-miner-2423/index2.html
You asked..."what he doesnt use? how can you tell if there is vit A deficiency?"...this site gives you a list of things to look for...but be aware that some of these things can have other causes too...
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=17&cat=1796&articleid=3027
